Monthly Archives: September 2012

I think I agree in large part with Jonathan Bernstein. He thinks it's not so much that Mitt Romney is a bad candidate. It's that anyone who molds himself into what the Limbaugh/Fox News crowd demands of a Republican nominee is going to be a bad candidate. But I think Romney is doing that worse than he might have…and also that, you know, it's still not impossible for him to pull it out.

Shelly Goldstein sent me this and it's rather…bizarre. It's part of a documentary that a French film crew made in 1969 about Los Angeles. The look at the city back then is interesting. The commentary, as translated, is — well, you make up your mind…

A letter from Groucho Marx to Woody Allen.

If you are a fan of the person known as Stephen Sondheim, you will want to spend much of your life on this webpage. Ten years ago, the Kennedy Center did a big Sondheim retrospective, staging six of his shows in repertory and having him interviewed and doing ancillary cabaret-style shows of performers singing (mostly) Sondheim tunes. Many of the cabaret-type performances are online as is a long interview with The Man. Go browse and read.

Ronald Brownstein explains what's gone awry for Mitt Romney. A lot of us thought Romney would run to the right to cinch the Republican nomination, then would start angling to the left in order to win over non-G.O.P. voters in the general election. As Mr. Brownstein explains, the Tea Party crowd hasn't given him much room to do this.

Here's Randy Newman with one of those jokes that not everyone is going to get…

As I'm sure I must have mentioned here, I get a lot of unsolicited calls from contractors (the building kind) looking for my business. I need no contracting work done and when I do, I have someone for that purpose…but I seem to have gotten on some sort of phone list that these people purchase. Several times a week, one calls.

Over the year or so I've been getting these calls, their nature is changing. They're getting less honest. At first, they went like this…

Hi, Mr. Evanier? I'm Bert Traveman with Traveman Contracting. We're a full service contractor. We handle painting, plastering, electrical, plumbing, roofing…just about anything you can imagine. If you have any work you need done, we'd be glad to come by and give you a free estimate.

Then they started fibbing about referrals, making up imaginary neighbors for me…

Mr. Evanier? This is Bert Traveman with Traveman Contracting. We're a full service contractor. We handle painting, plastering, electrical, plumbing, roofing…just about anything you can imagine. My company is working in your neighborhood and some of your neighbors told us you needed some work done. If you'd like, I can have one of my men stop in and give you a free estimate.

Lately, they just resort to lying…

Mark? It's Bert. Bert Traveman. Hey, listen, I wanted to get back to you on that work we discussed in June. I'm gonna have one of my guys pop over there today and look things over and give you an estimate. Will you be there to tell him about all those things you want to have done?

I've gotten a bunch of those calls from people I spoke to before who I never spoke to before. It's not a good sign to enter into a business relationship with someone who starts out fibbing about things. A lot of the callers, I'm sure, aren't even Bert Traveman with Traveman Contracting. I'm often speaking with some unemployed person who answered an ad that promised large sums per hour, only to find that they make that money only if they make these calls and land enough customers for the firm. So I can't bring myself to waste too much of their time, though one caller this afternoon was the exception…

He started off as if we were old pals and made small talk. Then he said, "I know you're busy just like I am so I want to get that job done for you. Refresh my memory of what it is you said you needed done."

ME: I need something built in my backyard.

HIM: Right, now I remember. And what was that again?

ME: A full-size replica of the Sphinx.

(He was halfway through writing it down when he asked…)

HIM: The Sphinx? You mean, like that statue thing in Egypt?

ME: Yes. You said you had photos of it and could replicate it exactly, right down to the inch.

There was a long pause and then I heard him say, "Hmm…the Sphinx, huh?" And then he caught on that I was lying to him for lying to me and he hung up. Which was a shame. I was hoping to at least get him to give me an estimate.

A Conservative History of the United States.

There's no point in me trying to explain what this is. Just watch it…

Michael Kinsley thinks Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are turning into cartoon characters. I don't think that's exactly true. Most people like cartoon characters.

If you're going to have any sort of valid discussion about taxes in this country and how much each income grouping pays, you need to read this article by Ezra Klein. And if you want to make a bogus argument that skews facts to try and help your side, you probably need to ignore this article by Ezra Klein and hope others don't read it.

One year ago today, I had the sad task of posting an obit for one of my best friends ever, a terrific fellow named Earl Kress. That's Earl in the photo above, sitting next to yesterday's Birthday Girl. In fact, the last time I saw Earl — just a few days before he died — I attended June Foray's 94th birthday party and then drove over to spend what I kinda sensed would be my last moments with my pal.

It was an evening of contrast. Earl would have loved that party because he loved June and the kind of folks who turned out for June…actors, writers, artists. Ordinarily, when he and I got together, we talked for hours about our many mutual interests. That last evening with him was painful because for the first time since Daws Butler introduced us several decades before, Earl and I had nothing to talk about. We couldn't talk about what he was doing because he was dying. And we couldn't talk about what I was doing because he was dying. And we couldn't talk about things outside that room because he was dying.

I am very good at getting over death on an individual basis. Lots of deaths in rapid succession can make for a very depressing atmosphere but when they're spaced out at decent intervals, they're quite manageable. I totally understand the concept that people go away and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop it. My father's death was not very traumatic for me, perhaps because we had a great relationship and there was nothing dangling or unresolved. When a former lady friend of mine lost her mother, I heard for months sentences that began with "Oh, if only I'd told her…" or "Oh, I wish she and I had…"

I had zero of those with my father. I was sad for the loss and sad for my mother but the closest I've come to thinking in Alternate Timelines is that things will happen to me — good things, generally — and I think, "Oh, he would have enjoyed seeing this." That's been my main reminder the last year that Earl is gone. I read an article or see some event announced that I know he'd love…and I can't call and tell him about it. Apart from that, you get over it…because you have to. And that's very possible if you remember that "getting over it" is not the same thing as forgetting.

I've thought all along that the Obama-Biden ticket was going to win another four years but that there would be times before November 6 when that seemed in doubt. My Republican friends have long thought that given the economy, anybody should be able to beat Obama. I think that would be so if most Americans blamed him wholly or even largely for the unemployment rate and other indicators…but they don't. More blame George W. Bush — and therefore a lot of policies that don't sound all that different from what Romney-Ryan seem to have in mind. A lot also think that due to Republican obstructionism, Obama hasn't been able to fix the economy the way he should have/could have.

Regardless of the way the electorate is actually skewing, there are too many factions around that don't want to let it be over until it's over…and in some cases, not even then. The news media, just for the sheer love of ratings and attention, needs to not let it be over. The Republican party, if only to turn out the G.O.P. base so it will vote for other Repubs in other contests that day, needs to make that base think there's a good chance of ousting Obama.

And then there's still a lot of election to go. I don't know what the overall impact will be of this new Romney "47%" tape but it's changed the election somehow. Tomorrow, something else could come out of nowhere the same way — something about Obama, something about Romney, whatever — that could change it again. Heck, either of those guys could say something really, really stupid in the debates and the election would suddenly become all or mostly about that stupid thing that guy said.

And lastly, I don't think Mitt Romney is going to go down to defeat without trying Plan B or maybe Plan C or Plan D. Just as if he was ahead, the Obama folks would try to make it a brand-new ball game somehow.

I still think Obama's going to win but we have a lot of mud to get through before that can happen. And a lot of moments when it will look like maybe it won't.

The one and only Jonathan Winters is the guest today on Stu's Show, which you can hear at 4 PM Pacific Time (7 PM Eastern, other times in other climes). The show runs at least two hours and you can hear it by going to the Stu's Show website at the proper time. That's if you want to listen to it for free. If you'd rather give Stu a buck, you can download it as a podcast, starting shortly after it airs. Same address. I don't think you want to miss this one.

Do not forget about the Kickstarter campaign for Big Daddy. One of my fave musical groups is trying to drum up the funds to make their first album in many years. You will want a copy of this and becoming a backer at the $25 level is the best way to get one…and to help make sure there are any. (For those of you unfamiliar with how Kickstarter works: Your credit card is not charged when you pledge. If they fail to reach their funding goal in the specified time, your card is never charged. You only pay if they actually produce the CD.) Kick in on this one. It's a worthy cause.